Brazilian-Russian relations

The first bilateral relations between the inhabitants of the countries date back to the second half of the 18th century , when Russian sailors who practiced on English ships visited Brazil. It is also worth noting that in Brazil, with feelings of sympathy and support, they watched the struggle of the Russian people against the invasion of Napoleon ^[2] .

In 1828, Brazil became the first Latin American country to become independent, which Russia recognized and established diplomatic relations with it. In the same 20s, the Russian botanist and ethnographer Grigory Langsdorf made a serious contribution to the study of Brazil ^[3] . From the second half of the 19th century, Brazilian export products began to come to Russia: coffee , sugar , spices . At that time, cultural ties also arose: in the 80s, the tour of the famous Russian tenor singer Nikolai Figner took place in Brazil ^[4] . In 1867, the Brazilian emperor Pedro II visited Russia. However, the visit was informal. Pedro visited St. Petersburg and Kiev , and also visited Livadia , where he was warmly received by the Romanov family resting there ^[5] . At the beginning of the 20th century, contacts between the two countries rose to a higher level: Brazil, among other Latin American countries, participated in the 2nd Peace Conference in The Hague , one of the initiators of which was Russia ^[6] .

After the October Revolution of 1917, diplomatic relations between the two countries were interrupted for more than two decades. Relations between the USSR and Brazil took shape heavily, largely because the authorities of the Latin American country were afraid of "export of the revolution." In Brazil, pretty strict censorship existed until the early 1980s, and books of a revolutionary content found during the arrest were declared to be “an instrument of political crime” ^[7] . After the attempt of the 1935 revolution , censorship became tougher - at one time all books in foreign languages ​​were arrested for verification, and forbidden books were burned ^[7] . For example, in 1937 a warning was issued to all owners of printing houses, publishing houses and bookstores that they would be punished by taking all profits if they would sell the works of Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky and “other banned Russian authors” ^[7] . Despite this, bilateral contacts continued to develop through the Soviet joint-stock company Yuzhamtorg (its main office was in Buenos Aires ), there was little trade ^[8] . Culturally, the most prominent place was taken by a trip to Brazil in early 1933 by the famous Soviet botanist-geneticist Academician Nikolai Vavilov ^[9] .

Having become an ally of the USSR during the Second World War , Brazil invited him to restore diplomatic relations, which was done on April 2, 1945 . During the Cold War, Brazil, like most Western countries, had a neutral but rather cold stance on the Soviet Union . Diplomatic relations were severed from 1947 to 1961. The restoration of official contacts was timed to coincide with the visit of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin to Brazil in 1961 , which presented the President of the USSR with the Message of the Supreme Council of the USSR ^[10] . Relations between the two states were limited by commercial trade and agreements on cooperation in industries of minimal importance. The volume of bilateral trade was quite significant - $ 835 million in 1983 ^[11] . During the years of perestroika, it fell sharply: from 468 million rubles. in 1984 to 267 million rubles. in 1986 ^[11] .

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent formation of the Russian Federation, relations between the two countries became warmer and led to the signing of the “Russian-Brazilian Cooperation Agreement” on November 2, 1997.

In 2001, a committee led by former Brazilian vice president Marco Masiel and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov produced several long-term bilateral agreements, laying the foundation for a strategic partnership between the two countries; The “Russian-Brazilian Government Commission” was established.

Continuing the development of bilateral relations, former Vice President of Brazil Jose Alencar visited Moscow in September 2003 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of his cabinet. The countries signed the “Russian-Brazilian Pact on Military Technology and Supplies” - an important agreement in the areas of space technology, missile defense , and arms deliveries.

At the invitation of Brazilian President Luis Inacio da Silva, Vladimir Putin paid an official visit to Brazil on November 22, 2004.

On October 18, 2005, during the official visit of the Brazilian president to Moscow, da Silva and Putin signed a bilateral “Russian-Brazilian strategic alliance”. An agreement was also signed that allowed the first Brazilian astronaut Marcus Pontis to fly into space aboard the Soyuz spacecraft .

On November 26, 2008, President Dmitry Medvedev paid a visit to Brazil, where he signed, in particular, agreements on military-technical cooperation and on the refusal of visa requirements for short-term trips of citizens of the Russian Federation and citizens of the Federal Republic of Brazil ^[12] .

In May 2010, Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Moscow on an official visit. During the meeting, the “Strategic Partnership Action Plan between the Russian Federation and the Federative Republic of Brazil” was signed ^[13] .

In December 2012, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff paid an official visit to Moscow , during which he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on trade diversification and deepening strategic partnerships, discussed prospects for the development of cooperation in the scientific, technical, cultural and humanitarian fields, and signed a number documents, including the “Strategic Partnership Action Plan: Next Steps” ^[14] .

On July 13-17, 2014, President of Russia Vladimir Putin paid an official visit to Brazil , during which he held talks with President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff , following which a package of documents on cooperation was signed, and also participated in the BRICS summit on political coordination and global governance ^[15] .

The commission was established in 1997. It includes:

• Intergovernmental Russian-Brazilian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation (IPC),
• Political Affairs Commission (Political Commission).

The fourth meeting of the Commission was held in 2006. The fifth was held May 17, 2011 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Vice President of Brazil Michel Temer ^[16] .

The collapse of the USSR led to a short-term decline in Brazilian-Russian trade. In 1992, bilateral trade amounted to only 22 million dollars ^[11] . However, trade soon began to grow and in 1997 amounted to 1.1 billion dollars ^[11] . From that moment, Brazil became the largest trading partner of Russia in Latin America and remained them in the 2000s and early 2010s. In 2007-2013, Brazil accounted for 29.7% of Russian exports to Latin America and 45.4% of imports from the Russian Federation to this region ^[17] . True, the volume of trade in absolute numbers is small - the annual commodity turnover of the two countries amounted to only $ 1.9 billion in 2011 ^[18] . In total for 2007-2013, the value of exports from the Russian Federation to Brazil amounted to $ 12.4 billion, and Brazilian imports for the same period - $ 27.6 billion ^[17] . Brazil is one of the main suppliers to the Russian Federation of raw sugar, coffee, beef and pork, and a significant share of Russian exports is fertilizers ^[19] . In 2009, Brazil provided 67% of Russia's import needs for raw sugar, 53% for frozen beef, 42% for pork, 41% for soy, 31% for tobacco leaf, 21% for coffee, 13% for poultry ^[20] . In the post-Soviet period, Brazil replaced Cuba for Russia as the main supplier of raw sugar.

In the early 2010s, bilateral trade was more like an exchange of Brazilian meat for Russian fertilizers. So, in 2013, Russian exports to Brazil by 77.6% consisted of fertilizers, and meat accounted for 55.9% of Brazilian supplies to the Russian Federation in the same year ^[21] . In the late 2000s, Brazilian meat became a factor that significantly complicated relations between the two countries. In 2005, in exchange for supporting Russia’s entry into the WTO from Brazil, the Russian Federation committed to purchase 390 thousand tons of Brazilian meat ^[20] . However, soon from the Russian side, the supply of Brazilian meat began to be limited for veterinary reasons, which caused dissatisfaction with the Brazilian authorities ^[22]

The volume of Brazilian investments in Russia in the 2000s and 2010s was small. A kind of impetus for the penetration of Brazilian entrepreneurs in the Russian Federation was the creation in 2004 of the Council of Entrepreneurs of Russia and Brazil (later renamed the Business Council of Russia and Brazil) ^[23] . However, in the 2000s in Russia, only two large Brazilian investment projects were implemented. In December 2007, in the Kaliningrad region , a joint factory for the production of semi-finished meat products, Concordia, was commissioned with the Russian company Miratorg (a Brazilian investor invested about $ 40 million in it) ^[24] . However, in 2008, the company suffered losses, after which the Brazilian side sold its stake in Miratorg ^[24] . In 2007, the Brazilian company Marcopolo SA began production of buses in the Russian Federation on the basis of two Russian enterprises, investing about 300 million rubles ^[24] , but already in 2009 this company also announced its withdrawal from the joint venture ^[24] . However, the company did not lose interest in Russia. In 2014, a new product was presented at KAMAZ - a small-class city bus jointly produced by the Russian company and Marcopolo SA ^[24] .

Relatively few students from Brazil traditionally studied at Russian universities: for example, RUDN University, the main forge of personnel in the USSR for developing countries, 186 Brazilians graduated from 1966-2008 (3.8% of Hispanic university graduates) ^[25] .

• Russians in Brazil
• List of ambassadors of Russia and the USSR in Brazil
• Embassy of Russia in Brazil
• BRICS

• As Relações Russo-Brasileiras (Port.) (PDF). Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional. Date of treatment May 6, 2007. (unavailable link) (port.)
• Aliança com a Rússia (port) . Defesa BR. Date of treatment May 6, 2007. Archived March 2, 2012. (port.)
• The Magazine of Future Warfare (Neopr.) . World Powers. Date of treatment May 6, 2007. Archived March 2, 2012. (eng.)

• Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (port)
• Embassy of the Russian Federation in Brazil (port.) (Russian)
• Embassy of Brazil in the Russian Federation (Russian) (port)